In a major step in the direction of increasing the inexperienced cowl of Bengaluru metropolis, the Karnataka authorities introduced a brand new biodiversity park. To be arrange on 154 acres of forest land within the Madappanahalli reserve forest close to Yelahanka, near Kempegowda Worldwide Airport, the biopark, as soon as accomplished, is predicted to turn out to be a serious public area and vacationer attraction within the metropolis’s northern outskirts.
Saying the initiative in early June, the state’s Forest, Ecology and Setting Minister Eshwar Khandre stated the park could be the town’s first large-scale inexperienced area after a century, for the reason that creation of Cubbon Park in 1870. Anticipated to be Bengaluru’s third main park, after Lalbagh Botanical Backyard and Cubbon Park, the forest land was not too long ago reclaimed from the Karnataka Forest Growth Company (KFDC). The land was formally handed again to the Forest Division within the minister’s presence in the course of the announcement.
The Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF) Meenakshi Negi knowledgeable Mongabay India that the mission remains to be in its conceptual section. “We’re within the strategy of planning it and are actively looking for inputs from consultants and the general public,” she stated. “The thought is to develop an interactive, accessible inexperienced area, one thing on the strains of Lalbagh.”
The location is at present dominated by eucalyptus, a non-native species that can be eliminated in keeping with the state ban on cultivating eucalyptus that has been efficient since 2017. Native and Western Ghats-endemic species corresponding to bilva, honne, banyan and peepal are anticipated to interchange them. Based on Khandre, the realm already helps round 800 bushes of native varieties.
The proposed options of the biopark embody: Basaveshwara medicinal backyard, Kempegowda mini-zoo, Dr. B. R. Ambedkar aviary, Indira Gandhi biopark, Saalumarada Thimmakka tree park, a butterfly park, a germplasm financial institution, a bamboo grove, an arboretum and a few water options.
Negi knowledgeable {that a} detailed mission report (DPR) was being ready, incorporating public and knowledgeable enter. Based on Khandre, the park is predicted to be accomplished throughout the subsequent two to a few years, with ₹20 crore sanctioned for the primary section of its improvement.
Banner picture: Cubbon park. Consultant picture by Divya Kilikar/Mongabay.
